Where Monsters Lie (The Monster Within 2)

His smile widens. “Excellent. Good day to both of you. I’ve a train to catch.” And with that, he heads off.

“Studying with Skinner, huh?” I ask Erin.

“He’s a scumbag, but a brilliant lawyer,” Erin says. “Did you know he’s descended from Rumpelstiltskin?”

I blink. “Wasn’t Rumpelstiltskin a monster of some sort?”

“There are many theories. He could have been a human, but it’s not entirely unheard of for humans and monsters to have offspring. Vampires, for instance, have been known to have relationships with humans.”

“Oh.” I’m not sure what to say to that. I forget how smart Erin is sometimes. “I guess that would explain why he looks at contracts that creepy way. So intense.”

“Yeah—it’s in his blood.”

“Hey, uh … what’s up with your dad? None of the other teachers want to talk about it.”

Her smile slips away and she starts fidgeting. “He’s sick,” she tells me, lowering her voice. “He’s been put on bed rest in his cabin.”

“What? It’s that bad?” I think back to before I left for my hunt. It’s true, Helsing had looked awful. I remember the bags beneath his eyes, the gauntness of his cheeks. “We have to go visit him.”

Erin shakes her head. “We can’t. Trust me, I want to—but he won’t let me. Whatever he has is really bad, and there’s no telling if it’s contagious. He actually told me to not let you, specifically, go see him,” she adds with a sad smile. “He knows how headstrong you are.”

I purse my lips. “Rude of him,” I say, but I know he’s right. I run my fingers through my hair. Without Helsing around, I’ll have to figure out my feelings about my revenge—and how to fix my mistakes—on my own.

“Um, so why do you want to talk to Mr. Skinner?” Erin asks, tugging on my arm to get me to start walking with her to the dining hall.

I hesitate, not sure if I should tell her. But Erin is smart, and studying law as well. Maybe she can help.

“I want to ask him about djinn contracts.”

Her eyebrows shoot up. “Djinn contracts?”

“Yeah.”

She falls silent, looking thoughtful. We pass a group of first-year students huddled around a table covered in notebooks and textbooks, and I briefly remember how difficult the second semester was for me last year. It can get pretty intense. I don’t envy them the pressure of staying off the bottom of the lists.

“He would probably know a lot about those. Monster hunters sometimes get lawyers to draft contracts for them if they have to deal with djinns.”

“Do you know much about them?”

“No,” she admits easily. “But with how good he is with contracts, I’m sure Mr. Skinner will. I’ll look into it for you, though,” she adds. “I know this must be important to you if you’re willing to talk to him about it.”

I smile at her. “Thanks.”

“Sorry I’ve been busy this week.” We enter the dining hall. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Luiza. And now that I’ll be working with Mr. Skinner …”

“It’s not a big deal,” I assure her. “You deserve to hang out with your girlfriend.” I smile when she blushes.

“Valentine’s Day is coming up,” she says. “I want to do something special for her. She’s the first girlfriend I’ve ever had. I’ve dated boys before, but I was never that … into it. I guess because I’m just not attracted to boys.”

I nod, amused. It’s difficult to picture Erin with a boyfriend. I had forgotten about Valentine’s Day, though, and I’m glad she’s reminded me.

I want to do something for the boys. My eyes flit to the table where Sawyer always sits alone, and I’m not surprised to see him there now. My guilt over the last few days has made one thing pretty clear to me. Despite everything, the bad and petty on both our sides, I still have feelings for him.

But with how I’ve hurt him, is there any way of salvaging our relationship, or even our friendship? Is there any way to get past what I’ve done to him, and what he’s done to me?

“You gonna come sit with me and Luiza?” Erin asks, pulling me back to the cafeteria.

“I’ll be there in a sec,” I tell her, my eyes still on Sawyer.